Supreme Court Battle Begins | Kim Jong Un Cries in Public

With 22 days to go until the election, there’s no stopping Senate Republicans — who have the necessary majority — from confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and cementing a conservative 6-3 majority. But the hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee are expected to be a political free-for-all: Democrats are highlighting Barrett’s starkly conservative views (and the possibility that her vote could overturn the Affordable Care Act, curtail abortion rights and even decide the election) to hammer embattled conservative opponents in November. Multiple committee members will participate in the hearings remotely due to the coronavirus.

Sources: NYT, Washington Post

2. With Trump’s Polls Slipping, GOP Senators Worry

After his COVID-19 diagnosis and widely panned debate performance, President Donald Trump has seen his poll numbers slip even further, to the point where GOP strategists are now expressing concern that his unpopularity — and recent revelations about his backroom dealings reported in The New York Times — could lead Republicans to lose the Senate as well. Even once-safe GOP seats like the one held by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham are now thought to be up for grabs, especially after Graham’s opponent Jaime Harrison brought in a record $57 million in fundraising in just three months.

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Sources: AP, NYT, Time, Washington Post

3. Brazil’s Vaccine Confidence Erodes Amid Trials

Last year, a survey found that 97 percent of Brazilians thought vaccinating children was important. Today just 76 percent say they’d definitely get a coronavirus vaccine, even as tens of thousands are getting experimental shots as part of trials for four major vaccines. Five million Brazilians have gotten the disease under President Jair Bolsonaro, who touted unproven drug hydroxychloroquine during his own bout with the virus — but his popularity has never been higher. Meanwhile, new research from Australia found that the virus can survive as long as 28 days on surfaces, far longer than previously imagined.

Sources: BI, Washington Post, BBC

4. EU Expected to Target Big Tech Firms

European regulators are reportedly discussing proposals to put serious curbs on as many as 20 major internet corporations, with an expected skew toward American giants like Facebook and Apple, reflecting a recent U.S. probe that recommended breaking up such companies to stop them from abusing their power. The EU’s internet rules are also expected to get an overhaul beginning with proposals in December. Meanwhile, the exodus of remote-working Silicon Valley employees to cheaper locales has also prompted salary cuts, signaling a shift in tech’s notoriously perk-heavy work culture.

Sources: FT (sub), WSJ (sub)

5. Also Important …

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat to win their 17th NBA championship. A security guard has been arrested after a shooting at a Denver political rally. And President Trump reportedly mulled wearing a Superman T-shirt underneath his dress shirt when leaving COVID-19 treatment at Walter Reed, planning to rip it open and reveal the logo underneath.

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Keep your eye on the bawl. Kim Jong Un held an early-morning military parade this weekend for the 75th anniversary of his Worker’s Party, at which he wiped tears from his face during a rare apologetic speech. “I am really sorry,” Kim told the crowd, over the hardships visited on them by the pandemic, which has affected trade with China — though Pyongyang insists it hasn’t notched a single case of COVID-19. Kim also unveiled a gigantic new long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, though he avoided directly antagonizing the U.S. in his speech.

Sources: Bloomberg, The Guardian

2. Trump Tweets, Campaign Ads Mislead About COVID-19

He’s also not immune to criticism. Twitter slapped a warning on a tweet from President Trump on Sunday claiming he’s now “immune” to COVID-19 and can’t spread it further. There have been cases of people being reinfected with the virus, and of carrying it in their body for months after initial diagnosis. Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci protested a Trump campaign ad which featured the doctor seemingly praising the president’s COVID-19 response. Fauci said the statement was taken out of context and used without his permission to wrongfully endorse a candidate, which he says he’s never done.

Sources: The Verge, Politifact, Sky News

3. What the Nobel Prizes Don’t Get About Modern Science

This month’s Nobel grants have honored work on black holes, genome editing and hepatitis C — but rules state they can only be given to a maximum of three individuals, which ignores the global, collaborative bent of modern science, OZY reports. It’s also problematic when someone wins with a discovery based on strides made by others who aren’t honored. But the Nobels show no sign of changing, which could doom them to irrelevance as other scientific prizes reward collaboration. The final 2020 Nobel prize, awarded in economics and announced today, has been given to American economists Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson for their work on auction theory.

Source: OZY, NBC

4. Cleopatra Casting Sparks Backlash

Is this pharaoh game? Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot announced that she’ll be starring as Egypt’s most famous queen in a new Paramount adaptation helmed by Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins. The project was reportedly Gadot’s idea, but her casting saw internet backlash from some upset that the Israeli actress was cast instead of a performer with an African background. Greek American scriptwriter Laeta Kalogridis countered that Cleopatra was a Macedonian Greek with little, if any, Egyptian heritage. The film may have to compete with a long-standing Cleopatra project from Sony.

Sources: Deadline, Times of Israel, USA Today

5. Nadal Crushes Djokovic in French Open Final

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal’s 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 win over No. 1 Novak Djokovic yesterday was a barrier breaker in lots of ways. It was Nadal’s 100th victorious match at the French Open, the 999th win of his career, and it brought him to 20 major titles, a tie with Roger Federer for the most ever. Held in a mostly deserted stadium (and four month late) due to the pandemic, it was also a crushing match for Djokovic, who until now hadn’t lost a completed tennis match in 2020 and had never lost a Grand Slam final set 6-0.

Sources: Yahoo Sports, The Guardian, NYT